(GNB Desk)- Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping, globally renowned for developing the first hybrid rice strains, died of an illness on Saturday at the age of 91, according to a hospital in Changsha, central China’s Hunan Province.
Yuan, the pioneer of the research and development of hybrid rice in China and also the first scientist in the world to successfully utilize the heterosis of rice, has not only earned respect from Chinese people but also the global community as the hybrid rice technology has been promoted globally, lifting more people out of hunger.
Dubbed as the “father of hybrid rice,” Yuan had devoted his life to the research and development of hybrid rice, which helped China feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population with only about 7 percent of the world’s arable land.
On September 29, 2019, a day before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Yuan was awarded the “Medal of the Republic,” the highest honor in the country, for his outstanding contribution to China’s food security, agricultural scientific development and world food supply.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has extended condolences to the family of scientist Yuan Longping, known as “father of hybrid rice.”
Born in Beijing in 1930, Yuan graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953.
Yuan succeeded in cultivating the world’s first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973, which was later grown on a large scale in China and other countries to substantially raise output.
Over the next four decades, he continued to research and upgrade hybrid rice, which has now reached its third generation.
In the message, Xi highly affirmed Yuan’s contribution to China’s food security, innovation in agricultural technology, and world grain development.
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